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Conand
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
A Conservative activist and supporter of the Liberal-Conservative Coalition Government
Interests: Guitar, Sailing, History, Politics (you couldn't have guessed), being nice to Lib Dems and Authoritarian Rightists.
Recent Activity
I am sure there was a time when he would have relished the idea of demolishing the Westminster Terraced Palace. That was of course prior to a change in John's bread buttering arrangements.
Ending the "obsession with demoliton" of Prescott's Pathfinders
Under the Labour Government, John Prescott brought in the Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder programme. It set target for demolition. But the coalition has changed the policy to promote refurbishment. In a statement to Parliament, the Housing Minister Grant Shapps says: There was widespread publ...
No it hasn't.
Cameron should pause before chorusing Y Viva Espagna this morning
By Paul Goodman Follow Paul on Twitter. Tim noted yesterday evening that after the Popular Party's emphatic victory in Spain's election only three of the EU 27 have left-wing governments. The lesson, he wrote, is that People can't afford left-wing policies in tough times. Does the moral apply...
Note to Editors: Surely you mean Ed jong-Mil does '[Not] look prime ministerial'?
2/100: David Cameron #TheRight100
ConservativeHome is today launching a 40,000 word guide to the one hundred most influential people and groups on the Right. Over the next few days we will be publishing seven of the profiles contained in that guide. Number two in our list is the Prime Minister David Cameron. If you do not subscr...
Well done to Ronda and everybody who helped in Southmead. 3rd to 2nd is a good result.
Council byelections results from Thursday
The Press Association reports: Bristol City - Southmead: Lab 1,109, C 765, Lib Dem 365, Green 120, English Democrats 77. (May 2010 - Lab 1,921, Lib Dem 1,291, C 984, BNP 310, Green 124, English Democrats 120). Lab gain from Lib Dem. Swing 8.6% Lib Dem to Lab. Essex County - Stock: C 1,820,...
I agree. This post makes me proud of our Conservative backbenchers and our Prime Minister.
An absence of backbench grovelling to "liberal, practical Conservative" Cameron over Libya
By Paul Goodman Follow Paul on Twitter Grovelling? Yes, let's face it: it happens. But not yesterday when the Prime Minister was questioned after his statement on Libya. Read Patrick Mercer on Islamism, Andrew Tyrie on torture, Peter Lilley on getting Libya to pay, Baron on intervention, Chist...
I don't entirely understand Bernard Jenkin's first point, it appears to be phrased in a rather confusing way. I think that if one followed the logic of his argument it would lead to an a priori assumption that the USSR was still in existence.
Bernard Jenkin says, the defence industry is a "highly competitive part of our engineering industry."
Then why wreck it by subsidizing it? This question is continuously asked by Douglas Carswell MP.
[Note to ConHome: A debate between Carswell & Jenkin on these issues would be very interesting indeed.]
Bernard Jenkin's point about deterrents seems rather false.
US Militarily spending did not deter the Taliban from capturing large parts of Afghanistan, it did not deter Saddam from brutalising the people of Iraq.
The military power of NATO combined with diplomatic detent did not deter Gaddafi from running Libya into the ground and it did not
deter his goons from burying people alive. Even when push came to shove it did not deter Gaddafi from conducting an armoured assault on Benghazi.
Hamas don't seem to be very deterred by Israeli defence spending or indeed by Israel's unique position in the developed world of being a largely militarized society (by which I mean their having a large proportion of the population retained as reservist military personnel).
"The sinews of war are infinite money" - M Tullius Cicero
Labour took this to mean "Let the MOD get completely out of control."
Liam Fox is trying to spend within defence budget. As things stand the size of the defence budget is only tangentally related to
defence spending. This tangental relationship is NOT a good thing for UK security or for HM Armed Forces.
Bernard Jenkin MP: It is far cheaper to be ready to deter wars than to have to fight them
Bernard Jenkin is MP for Harwich and North Essex, is Chairman of the Public Administration Select Committee and was Shadow Defence Secretary during the Iraq war. Reading Paul Goodman’s article yesterday it may seem remarkable that the Defence budget remains as large as it is. He echoes Niall...
I noted the other day that Germany's defence cut is twice as large as ours. This is never mentioned when defence cuts are discussed on TV.
If the choice is tax rises or defence cuts, we should opt for the latter
By Paul Goodman Follow Paul on Twitter I asked yesterday: which taxes should rise if other are to fall? But there is an alternative to hiking taxes still further - namely, for the Government to cut the deficit and meet the competitive challenge of Asia by renewing its drive to reduce the grow...
If the taxpayer is the consumer then the end product is combat aircraft. Harry's point stands.
If the choice is tax rises or defence cuts, we should opt for the latter
By Paul Goodman Follow Paul on Twitter I asked yesterday: which taxes should rise if other are to fall? But there is an alternative to hiking taxes still further - namely, for the Government to cut the deficit and meet the competitive challenge of Asia by renewing its drive to reduce the grow...
11. People should double check their spelling when presenting a formal request to the Government.
E-petition launched to review the smoking ban - and the 10 most popular e-petitions so far
By Matthew Barrett Follow Matthew on Twitter A new e-petition has been launched today by chef and broadcaster Anthony Worrall Thompson, calling on the government to review the smoking ban - a policy generally unpopular with ConHome readers. The text of the petition is: "We petition the Gover...
That's a cheap shot. Zoom out a bit...look roads!
Cold war airfields tend to have roads going to them, that is the case here.
Osborne and Cameron announce new Enterprise Zones
By Matthew Barrett Follow Matthew on Twitter The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, and the Prime Minister, David Cameron, are today announcing the finalised locations for the new "enterprise zones" in England, which the Treasury expects will create 30,000 new jobs by 2015. Enterprise...
I'm against the death penalty and I hope that any Labour MP speaking in support of it sounds as stupid and opportunist as the people you quote.
Labour councillors back restoration of death penalty
The Leicester Mercury reports the welcome news that two Labour councillors have given public backing to the call by the blogger Guido Fawkes for restoration of capital punishment. Cllr Barbara Potter and Cllr Sundip Meghani, both Labour councillors in Leicester and members of the Leicestershire ...
So Putin is definitely worth a punt in the election?
The buoyant popularity of William Hague
By Paul Goodman Follow Paul on Twitter. This being the holiday season - or the silly season if you prefer - the Sun has a frivolous item today. For further details see above, or follow the link to the story, which declares: "Brits give party leaders an end-of-year savaging today - branding Da...
Number of these platorms controlled by:
A: The BBC = 17
B: BSkyB = 2
Radio 4's Today programme, BBC1's evening news bulletins and Question Time voted most impactful media platforms
By Tim Montgomerie Follow Tim on Twitter. Over 1,000 journalists, MPs and readers of ConservativeHome took part in an entirely unscientific poll over the last seven days in a bid to try and establish which media platforms have most impact. The exact question was as follows: "Imagine you are a p...
Anybody else notice the text summary from the BBC? "the UK economy slowed..the Chancellor welcomes the news"
If we click on 'Terms' we see: "The embedding of BBC content is not a BBC endorsement of your website"
Fair enough, as long as the BBC understand that the embedding of BBC content is not an endorsement of the BBC.
Osborne says Britain is growing, is creating jobs and is a safe haven in a global debt storm
> Read ConHome's reaction to the +0.2% growth data.
Will he now ensure more shouting? Or will he ignore public opinion?
Speaker Bercow vs. Public Opinion
By Matthew Barrett Follow Matthew on Twitter A variation of the segment of the above video, in which Speaker John Bercow tells a noisy chamber that "the public doesn't like it", is a regular occurrence at Prime Minister's Questions. As a further example, Hansard on the 27th of April: "Mr...
The BBC won't report it at all.
Should further action be taken to discipline Labour MP Lyn Brown?
By Matthew Barrett Follow Matthew on Twitter The Daily Mail reports today how the Labour whip, Lyn Brown, attacked blind talkSPORT journalist Sean Dilley: "A Labour whip unleashed a four-letter tirade at a blind man for getting in her way during a fraught exchange in the Houses of Parliament....
"Should the Speaker name ....Members who behave in this way?"
Yes, but he also behaves appalling badly. Ref: The "You're not ... royalty Mr Speaker" incident.
Should further action be taken to discipline Labour MP Lyn Brown?
By Matthew Barrett Follow Matthew on Twitter The Daily Mail reports today how the Labour whip, Lyn Brown, attacked blind talkSPORT journalist Sean Dilley: "A Labour whip unleashed a four-letter tirade at a blind man for getting in her way during a fraught exchange in the Houses of Parliament....
Exactly.
Of course the left don't mind if the faith being promoted is (Non-Democratic) Socialism.
Will the Left stop pretending Michael Gove is planning a mass expansion of faith schools?
By Matthew Barrett Follow Matthew on Twitter One of the left's main objections to the Coalition's Free Schools policy since the election last year has been the possibility of religious groups setting up schools. This left-wing opposition has involved smearing people of faith and whipping up fear...
An excellent speech. Shailesh Vara MP (Assistant Whip) is also a Ugandan Asian. It looks like we've found something good that Ted Heath did!
New Tory peer Lord Popat uses his maiden speech to thank Britain for giving him refuge from Idi Amin's Uganda in the 1970s
By Jonathan Isaby There has recently been an influx of new Conservative peers into the House of Lords, and yesterday Baroness Stowell wrote here about her initial experiences on the red benches. It has been remiss of me not to note their maiden speeches as they have delivered them, but my attent...
No Ed you can't relate to other people's lives. You had a privileged communist upbringing wherein you were entirely insulated from reality.
Joey Jones reveals exposes how Ed Miliband's aides tried to cover up how he was travelling First Class today
This was a genuine mistake by Newsnight. A genuinely appalling mistake which they should apologise for on tonight's programme.
We know the BBC is biased but they could at least try and pretend that they are vaguely competent.
Newsnight's ambush attempt on Pickles fails
I had a cameo appearance on Newsnight last night, due to the 105 regulations that Hammersmth and Fulham Council wished to see scrapped. Cllr Ann Ducker, leader of Conservative-run South Oxfordshire District Council, spoke well on how staff reductions of a third had been achieved n planning polic...
"But your own Government department doesn't do it?" Gavin Esler then said
Newsnight's ambush attempt on Pickles fails
I had a cameo appearance on Newsnight last night, due to the 105 regulations that Hammersmth and Fulham Council wished to see scrapped. Cllr Ann Ducker, leader of Conservative-run South Oxfordshire District Council, spoke well on how staff reductions of a third had been achieved n planning polic...
You iz like well oppressing me wiv yer reinforcement of patriarchal and bourgeois hegemonic power fru our very modes ov communication INNIT!
The Left's war on grammar and phonics
John Bald, an independent educational consultant, and blogger on damaging role of the National Association for the Teaching of English My final posting on subversion concerns the National Association for the Teaching of English, NATE, which has played the longest, and to date the most successful...
Giving in to Socialist demands that Police powers be increased to deal with Socialist rioters is a complete and utter nightmare. This is a trap and not what I campaigned for at the General Election. Please don't do this.
Theresa May to consider giving police new powers to remove face coverings of protestors
The Home Secretary also told the Commons that she is considering powers for the police to quarantine known hooligans.
Snarky? It is a rebuttal of the malignant nonsense that the opposition are pimping.
I think you'll find that the economy is quite a politicized subject already, unlike the disaster in Japan.
Osborne was pointing out that The Great Coalition Government's cuts next month are less than the pathetic party have scheduled in the Darling plan.
Matthew Hancock MP: The divide in British politics is now clear
Matthew Hancock is Conservative MP for West Suffolk and was Chief of Staff to George Osborne until shortly before the last General Election. Yesterday’s press conference by Ed Miliband and Ed Balls revealed a central truth about the Labour opposition. Not just the highly insensitive attempt to...
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